When the Nintendo DSi launched, I imagined a game that would use its camera for more in-depth gameplay than taking pictures or using it as a green screen. I figured there’d be some sort of Pokemon-type title where players used… Continue Reading →

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When the Nintendo DSi launched, I imagined a game that would use its camera for more in-depth gameplay than taking pictures or using it as a green screen. I figured there'd be some sort of Pokemon-type title where players used the camera to search for creatures in everyday objects. It'd be a nice twist to that genre.
Well, it seems as though Sony beat Nintendo to the punch. Invizimals uses the new camera for the PSP (Yes, it's coming to the States.) and employs it in a smart augmented-reality title. I saw the game last week at Sony's Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake competition and though the name wasn't impressive, seeing the game in action is.
To actually capture an Invizimals, players will have to walk around their homes. The PSP acts almost like a Geiger counter beeping when an invizimal is close. Once players find them, they'll have to pull out a special trap card that comes with the game and lay it down. Soon enough, the invizimal appears and players have to play a minigame to capture it. The method varies depending on the type of invizimal. To capture a water-based one, for example, players will have to engage in a fishing game. In other scenarios, flying creatures may have to be swatted down.
Once they're captured on a card, players can observe their invizimal from any direction. It's amazing how real the creature looks even though it's stuck on that card. Players can blow on it and the PSP's microphone picks it up. Players can pet the invizimal and it'll react. It's very convincing.
Overall, players can capture 40 types of invizimals, and these creatures can evolve three times. So there's going to be plenty of variety as players battle the computer and other people's creatures.
As for the fighting system, it's fairly simple. Invizimals battle each other one on one. They have health and stamina bars. The first bar is obvious; the second determines how many times players can attack per turn. Each invizimal has four attacks mapped to four face buttons. Each attack takes up a certain amount of stamina. The more powerful the attack, the more stamina it uses. Lastly, the stamina refills over a certain amount of time.
In addition to the attacks, players can also use potions and other items via the D-pad.
During the actual battle itself, each invizimal will drop red and blue orbs when they're hit. The red orbs are vectors that boost invizimal traits during battle such as attack or recovery. The blue orbs are currency, which let players level up the invizimals' five stats: life, stamina, recovery, attack and armor.
From what I've seen, Invizimals looks like it has lot of potential. The combat and capture system work well, introducing a new type of augmented reality gameplay. It's smart, but I wonder what other elements of the game will be like. Will players be able to take these invizimals to an in-game world or is battling other creatures the end-all and be-all of the game?
With the ability to battle over ad hoc or the infrastructure, there'll be plenty of competitors to take on. But there needs to be more than fancy technology to make this game work. The developer needs to create more of an ecosystem around it.]]>http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2010/04/30/invizimals-more-impressive-than-name-suggests/feed/77InvizimalsInvizimalsInvizimalsInvizimals